DC hears woes of ryots families

Newindianexpress

Saturday January 20 2007 12:36 IST

SHIMOGA: Distressed widows, sons and daughters who were orphaned by the death of their farmer husbands or fathers gathered at the DC office to seek help from the government.
Due to the heavy loans the head of their family had committed suicide. But the major question who will solve their problem? A meeting was called at the DC’s office on Friday to discuss their problems.
The meeting aimed to identify cases of farmer suicides in Shimoga division and to disburse compensation under the special package announced by the Central Government. The poor condition of the families of the dead farmers was the main issue of the meeting.
Members of 65 agriculture families residing in the villages of Shimoga, Bhadravati and Tirtahalli taluks were present. They briefed the DC on the circumstances which forced the farmers to commit suicide.
Expressing grief over losing her mother Narasamma, Mamata said, ‘‘I am living like an orphan. My mother used to cultivate on our three acres of land in Nidige. She had taken Rs 2 lakh loan for the purpose. She failed to repay the loan due to crop loss and later committed suicide’’.
Vishalakshamma, Shantabai, Gangamma, Dhanalakshmi and others too requested to provide them compensation, immediately. They also demanded that the government should appoint their children to different government posts as per their educational qualification. Out of the 65 farmer families, only 10 received compensation. Farmers had committed suicides between 2003 and 2006. Members of such families used the meeting as a proper platform to convey their miseries.
Assistant Commissioner Vijaykumar, HQA to DC M Omkaramurthy, Zilla Panchayat deputy secretary Hemoji Naik, Registrar for Co-operative Societies Eshwaraswamy, Agriculture Department joint director Manjappa, Horticulture Department assistant director Shakeel Ahmed were present.